CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Position Increased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CSX in the fourth quarter worth about $757,276,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in CSX by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,807,961 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,246,893,000 after purchasing an additional 9,914,656 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CSX by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 40,353,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,399,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,041,679 shares during the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in CSX by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,993,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $139,787,000 after acquiring an additional 810,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 352.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 914,769 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,715,000 after acquiring an additional 712,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.79. The stock had a trading volume of 6,746,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,818,724. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.20. CSX Co. has a 52 week low of $29.03 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. CSX’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CSX. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of CSX from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on CSX from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.39.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services; and transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, as well as other transportation services, such as rail-to-truck transfers and bulk commodity operations. It also transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, automotive, forest products, fertilizers, and metals and equipment; and coal, coke, and iron ore to electricity-generating power plants, steel manufacturers, and industrial plants, as well as exports coal to deep-water port facilities.